U.S. Industrial Production Climbs More Than Expected In June

Industrial production in the U.S. increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of June, the Federal Reserve revealed in a report on Friday.

The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.4 percent in June after inching up by a revised 0.1 percent in May.

Economists had expected production to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected increase in production was partly due to another jump in mining output, which surged up by 1.6 percent in June after spiking by 1.9 percent in May.

Manufacturing output also rose by 0.2 percent in June after falling by 0.4 percent in May, with the Fed noting factory output has gone up and down in recent months.

Meanwhile, the report said utilities output came in unchanged in June following a 0.8 percent increase in the previous month.

The Fed also said capacity utilization for the industrial sector rose to 76.6 percent in June from a downwardly revised 76.4 percent in May.

Economists had expected capacity utilization to inch up to 76.7 percent from the 76.6 percent originally reported for the previous month.

Capacity utilization in the mining sector jumped to 84.8 percent, while capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector inched up to 75.4 percent and capacity utilization in the utilities sector was flat.

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